Taxi Driver Online

Council to fine taxis over Cardiff Central station ‘chaos’

ON-THE-SPOT fines are to be dished out to taxi drivers blamed for turning a key gateway to the Welsh capital into a “chaotic embarrassment”.

For the past few months, drivers have endured frustrating waits as cabbies park along the road that leads from the drop-off area at the front of Cardiff Central station.

Despite being marked with double yellow lines, a queue of cabs can be regularly seen waiting bumper-to-bumper all the way back to the junction with Wood Street.

The road is so narrow that drivers attempting to pick up or drop off friends and family at the station have little option but to join the queue.

“The impression it leaves on those who may have never come to Cardiff before is not good,” said Canton’s Labour councillor Ramesh Patel.

“It’s total chaos and an embarrassment. The minute they see that it leaves a bad taste in their mouth.”

Cardiff council is now planning a crackdown by handing out on-the-spot £70 fines to offenders.

The authority is modifying its Traffic Regulation Order to allow civil enforcement officers to issue the fines immediately.

Currently, officers have to wait five minutes to see if the taxi is loading or unloading before they can hand over the fine.

A taxi drivers’ union, however, says the problem has been created by the council and described the new penalty system as “discriminating” against cabbies.

Mathab Khan, chairman of the Cardiff Hackney Carriage Association, said the station rank only accommodated for six cabs, and drivers had no choice but to park along the road.

He said it was previously not an issue as drivers would pull onto the pavement to allow the traffic to flow freely to and from the station.

But earlier this year the council erected barriers along the pavement to prevent cabbies pulling over, Mr Khan said.

“Instead of giving us more spaces they are now taking away the few spaces that are available. We will fight against this, it’s insane,” he told the Echo.

Mr Khan said the fines would only force cabbies to drive in circles around the station waiting for a space to become available in the rank, adding to congestion.

“This will have a big impact on people. Having worked all day in Bristol or London they will arrive at Cardiff Central and will not be able to get home,” Mr Khan added.

“The council has a moral duty to provide us with a workplace where we can work safely and be able to earn a living. They are depriving us of that, it’s pathetic.”

He said drivers had to pay more than £300 a year to use the station’s other two ranks, by the Sleeperz Hotel and to the rear of the station. He has previously called for the annual charge to be replaced by a swipe-and-pay system.

A council spokeswoman said the on-the-spot fines were designed to stop drivers parking illegally.

Taxi ranks in the area are also being reviewed as part of redevelopment plans for the bus station.


Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

It is chaotic as they say but could be quite easily overcome.

The permit holders are crammed into a very small corner to the side of the station and can sometimes wait 2 hours for a silly small fare, and are also paying for that dubious privilege.

Outside the very front of the station there are six taxi spaces reluctantly put there by the council this in a City with over 950 hacks!

It would be far easier to allocate the rear of the station to dropping off and picking up passengers for the private motorist, leaving the front free for those wishing to catch buses/taxis. Stating the obvious, the rear of the station is not as attractive as the front but provides the same access to the platforms and refreshment areas.

This would stop the gridlocking that occurs daily.........simples.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

Clearly B&H has a twin.

Idiots blocking the streets.

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IDFIMH

Sorry but you lost me on that one.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

You have loads of cabbies blocking the roads around the station, as do we.

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IDFIMH

Maybe he didn't realise that B&H stood for Brighton & Hove.

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Grandad,

You are right I could not see the connection.

The problem is that the council literally doubled the amount of hacks, which cut the cake in half, and then along came the recession which further more decimates the cake, In fact I think our recession has just began/gotten deeper.

Tues and Wednesday of last week........."Take That" put 60,000 fans into the stadium on both nights. The stadium emptied at 10.30 pm, the streets were shot by 1.00 am.............two and a half hours later hardly a soul about, unbelievable.

On days the guys must be pulling their hair out and that is why they are so dogmatic re the station.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.